Ramshorn Theatre stages The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Production recreates radioplay using Douglas Adams' original scripts

DON’T PANIC – the Ramshorn has finally gained permission to bring The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy back to the stage, after Disney purchased the rights over 10 years ago. A collaboration between the Strathclyde Theatre Group and the Radio Theatre Group, this production goes back to the roots of the popular series, using the original radio scripts that Douglas Adams first penned in the 1970s.

‘It’s a bit difficult to cross the galaxy on stage,’ says co-director Bruce Downie. With this in mind, Downie and co-director Susan Triesman have come up with an innovative solution: the cast will perform as though in a radio studio, while a crew creates live sound effects around them. It’s not just actors at mics though. Downie is aware of the importance of creating an exciting production to watch, as well as listen to. ‘Radio is the most visual of mediums, you’ve really got to engage your imagination to make that work, you’ve got to interact with the audience – but when we’re transferring that to stage, we have to bring some of that visual quality with us. The stage set will be something like a recording studio, but also something like the control desk of a space ship.’

This production, which Downie describes as being like ‘a surreal bomb [that] has gone off’, looks set to capture the off-beat magic that has made the intergalactic romp such a crowd pleaser for three decades. So grab your towel and head to the Ramshorn to celebrate the return of this cult classic.